The specification of this continuation application is intended to be identical to the specification of predecessor application Ser. No. 11/159,939 filed Jun. 23, 2005. The term “present invention” as utilized herein has the same meaning as in the predecessor application.
The present invention relates to handle and housing assemblies that can be used to operate devices such as latches that retain closures in closed positions. More particularly, the present invention relates to handle and housing assemblies that employ a housing having a front side and a rear side, and a handle that is connected on the front side of the housing to a shaft that extends through the housing along a forwardly-rearwardly extending principal axis of the housing, wherein the handle is graspable 1) to turn the shaft and components connected thereto about the principal axis between first and second orientations, 2) to cause the shaft and components connected thereto to move axially along the principal axis in forward and rearward directions relative to the housing, or 3) to cause the shaft and components connected thereto to execute a combination of turning and axial movements for such purposes as moving a latching element into and out of an orientation where the latching element aligns with a strike, and/or to press a strike-aligned latching element into engagement with the strike to securely releasably retain a closure in its closed position.
Commercially available handle and housing assemblies have a wide range of uses. Many are purchased by manufacturers of vehicle cabinetry, industrial cabinets, toolboxes and the like for use in products having mechanical and/or electrical devices such as latches that can be operated by moving a handle relative to an associated housing. Some handle and housing assemblies have housings that define forwardly facing recesses and employ handles that can retract to nest within the recesses. When the nestable handle of many of these handle and housing assemblies is moved to an extended position projecting forwardly from an associated housing-defined recess, the handle can be grasped and turned about a forwardly-rearwardly extending principal axis of the housing to turn and/or axially move a handle-connected shaft that extends through the housing along the principal axis.
Many commercially available handle and housing assemblies are lockable, either by inserting and turning a key in a housing-carried lock, or by attaching a padlock to the assembly to prevent relative movement of selected components of the assembly. It is unusual for handle and housing assemblies to be lockable not only by a housing carried lock, but also by a separately installed padlock.
The handle connected shafts of some handle and housing assemblies are used to move a latch element into and out of a latched position wherein the latch element engages a strike or other structure to retain an associated closure in a closed position. Latch element movements effected by handle movements may include turning of the latch element about the shaft axis, or translating the latch element along the shaft axis, or a combination of both of these types of movement.
The handle connected shafts of other handle and housing assemblies are used to turn a so-called “latch operating element” between non-operated and operated positions to cause one or more links that are connected to the latch operating element to operate one or more remotely located latches. Rigid links such as rods may be pushed or pulled by the latch operating element to cause one or more remotely located latches to operate. Flexible links such as cables may be pulled by the latch operating element to cause one or more remotely located latches to operate.
In some applications, it may be desirable to utilize rigid links that are positioned by handle and housing assemblies to move link-carried roller assemblies into and out of engagement with strike formations or other structure instead of utilizing rigid or flexible links to operate latches that hold closures in closed positions. In provisional application Ser. No. 60/610,385 filed Sep. 16, 2004 by Lee S. Weinerman et al and assigned to The Eastern Company, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, link-carried roller assemblies are disclosed that can be substituted for link-operated latches. The handle and housing assembly of the present invention is well suited for use with such link-carried roller assemblies. Therefore, when handle and housing assemblies embodying features of the present invention are described herein as being used to move links of various types, it will be understood that the links being moved by the handle and housing assemblies may be used not only to operate latch assemblies of a variety of types, but also (or in the alternative) to move link-carried roller assemblies into and out of latched positions in a manner disclosed in the aforementioned provisional application.
Patents assigned to The Eastern Company which disclose handle and housing assemblies having handles that are movable between retracted and extended positions, and that can be turned, while extended, to turn shafts of the assemblies, include U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,067 issued Jun. 13, 1989 to Weinerman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,054 issued Jun. 13, 1989 to Weinerman et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,478 issued Nov. 17, 1987 to Swan et al, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Some commercially available handle and housing assemblies utilize a handle that overlies at least part of a front portion of a key-operated lock. Patents assigned to The Eastern Company which disclose handle and housing assemblies having handles that overlie a key-operated lock when the handle is moved to a retracted or nested position include U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,951 issued Apr. 3, 1990 to Weinerman et al, and the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,478.
A patent assigned to The Eastern Company which discloses a handle and housing assembly that not only turns a shaft-connected latch element between latched and unlatched positions but also turns a shaft-connected latch operating element to move links to release a pair of remotely located latches is U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,865 issued Feb. 10, 1987 to Pastva, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Other patents assigned to The Eastern Company that disclose a variety of types of handle and housing assemblies used to operate pairs of links to release remotely located latches include U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,353 issued Feb. 4, 2003 to Weinerman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,895 issued Dec. 10, 2002 to Weinerman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,076 issued Jan. 21, 1997 to Weinerman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,338 issued Jan. 9, 1990 to Weinerman et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,878 issued Aug. 1, 1961 to Pelcin, U.S. Pat. No. 2,735,706 issued Feb. 21, 1956 to Pelcin, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,729,089 issued Jan. 3, 1956 to Pelcin, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The referenced Parent Patent discloses handle and housing assemblies that each have a front side and a rear side, and that each have a handle that is connected to a shaft on the front side of the housing—a shaft that extends through the housing and can be turned and/or translated by the handle about and/or along a forwardly-rearwardly extending axis, referred to as a “principal axis.” Features of the invention disclosed in the Parent Patent include “front features” and “rear features.” Some embodiments of the Parent Patent invention incorporate only front features; some incorporate only rear features; and, some incorporate combinations of front and rear features. The present invention may utilize some of the front and/or some of the rear features of the invention disclosed in the referenced Parent Patent.
Just as handle and housing assemblies that embody features of the Parent Patent invention can be utilized to turn and/or to axially move shaft-carried components such as latch elements, latch operating elements or combinations thereof, so may handle and housing assemblies that embody features of the present invention. Thus, in some embodiments of the present invention, the shaft carries a latch element that is moved between latched and unlatched positions in response to handle movement of the shaft; whereas, in other embodiments, the shaft-carried latch element may be replaced by or supplemented by a latch operating element that connects with one or more links (which may be rigid or flexible, as described above) that, when moved by the latch operating element in response to handle movement of the shaft, causes one or more remotely located latches to operate, typically by releasing their engagement with associated strike or cabinet formations to permit a closure (on which the handle and housing assembly may be mounted) to open.